Klaw Friendsgiving Dinner in Edgewater: Live King Crab

Klaw, at 1737 North Bayshore Drive in Edgewater, offers a Friendsgiving dinner with a real centerpiece: live Norwegian king crab, which the restaurant says it is the only place on the East Coast to serve. A whole king crab is $157 per pound, with a minimum order of about four pounds, and it arrives as the kind of dish a whole table gathers around. For groups, the Tuttle Room seats up to 30 guests in a private space inside a 1925 landmark building.

The restaurant's location page tells the building's story. Henry Flagler donated the land, and architect August Geiger built the Renaissance Revival clubhouse for the Miami Woman's Club in 1925. Klaw now fills the building, with interiors by designer Martin Brudnizki, and it bills itself as home to Edgewater's only rooftop bar. The private rooms are named for Julia Tuttle and Henry Flagler, the pair often called the mother and father of Miami.

The king crab comes from the fishing village of Bugøynes in northern Norway, according to the menu, and the beef program is dry-aged in house and cooked over a live fire of hickory and oak. That combination of seafood and steak makes Klaw an easy fit for a mixed group, where some friends want shellfish and others want a steak, and both can share at the same table.

The current a la carte menu lists the whole king crab at $157 per pound and king crab legs and claws at $19 per ounce, with a minimum order of eight ounces. The Shellfish Platter is $152 and the Klaw Shellfish Tower is $215, the starter that sets the tone for a big table. For mains, the Whole Branzino is $68 and the Australian Lamb Chops are $69, two plates that share well alongside the crab.

From the beef program, the 60-ounce Angus Tomahawk is $295 and the Chateaubriand is $110 for 14 ounces or $145 for 20 ounces. Mashed Potatoes at $15 are the side most people want at a holiday table. An honest call: skip ordering both a whole crab and a tomahawk for a table of six, since either one feeds the group, and the crab is the dish people will remember.

The crab arrives as a whole animal, and that is the point for a Friendsgiving. Order it at the start of the meal so the table can work through it together while the steaks are on the fire, and ask for extra plates and napkins. The four-pound minimum is ideal for six to eight people, and it turns the first hour of dinner into the kind of shared, hands-on meal that a holiday table is supposed to be. Smaller groups can order the legs and claws by the ounce instead.

For a table of eight, a workable order is a whole king crab, the shellfish platter, the branzino, the 20-ounce Chateaubriand and two orders of mashed potatoes. That spread covers the crab lovers and the steak lovers and still leaves room for dessert. Klaw adds a 20% service charge to every bill, so include it when splitting the check.

The private dining page lists two fully private rooms: the Tuttle Room for up to 30 guests and the Flagler Room for up to eight. The chef's table on the fourth floor seats up to 50, the sixth-floor terrace holds up to 150 for a reception, and the entire restaurant can host up to 250. For a Friendsgiving of 10 to 30 friends, the Tuttle Room is the natural fit, while the Flagler Room suits a small, special dinner.

Group bookings are handled through the restaurant's events team by email. Plan B: if the private rooms are booked, the rooftop bar is a good place for a smaller group to gather for drinks with a bay view, and a main dining room table on a Tuesday or Wednesday is easier to get than a weekend in late November.

Klaw is open Tuesday to Thursday 6 pm to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday 6 pm to 11 pm and Sunday 5 pm to 9 pm, and it is closed on Monday. The phone number is (305) 239-2523. The Omni Loop of the free Metromover stops a few blocks away at School Board station, which is the easiest way to arrive from Downtown or Brickell without driving.

Thanksgiving Day itself has no published menu on the restaurant's site, so a Friendsgiving on a Sunday or a weeknight in November is the safest plan. Sunday service starts an hour earlier, at 5 pm, which lets a group sit down while there is still a little light over the bay and finish early enough for a Monday morning.

Before dinner, walk to Margaret Pace Park on North Bayshore Drive, a bayfront park right next to the restaurant with paths along the water and views across to Miami Beach. In late November the light over the bay is at its best just before sunset, and the park is a good place for a group photo. It is also popular with dog walkers and joggers in the early evening.

After dinner, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on Biscayne Boulevard is a short walk south, and its lit plaza is a pleasant place to finish the evening. A group with tickets to a show can pair an early Sunday dinner at Klaw with a performance at the Arsht Center for a full night out.

Klaw Miami, 1737 North Bayshore Drive, Miami, FL 33132, in Edgewater. Phone (305) 239-2523. Tuesday to Thursday 6 pm to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday 6 pm to 11 pm, Sunday 5 pm to 9 pm, closed Monday. Tuttle Room up to 30, Flagler Room up to eight. Whole king crab $157 per pound, Klaw Shellfish Tower $215. A 20% service charge is added to every bill.